Baby West-Allens
by steepedinshadows419
Summary: Barry and Iris meet their newborn twins. Barry/Iris. Oneshot.


**A/N:** This completely unplanned fic is the result of a switch-off I've never done before and obviously should do more often. The lovely **iwasalwaysaromantic** (on tumblr) made some pretty westallen icons for me in exchange for a ficlet granted with any prompt of her choosing. Barry & Iris deciding to meet their newborns after Iris has recovered some from the delivery was her prompt. I expanded on it a little. ;) Enjoy!

 ***** Many thanks, as always, to **sendtherain** for beta'ing. :D

 ***** I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

...

The feel of warm, albeit sweaty, skin on her hands eventually registered in Iris's half-dazed consciousness. She blinked slowly, felt the shift in the body belonging to the sweaty skin, and opened her eyes.

"Hey," she said, her voice a little rough and scratchy.

"Hey," he said in return, releasing one of her hands to brush some of her damp locks off her forehead.

"What…" She tried again when she still couldn't speak clearly, "What happened?"

Barry's eyebrows lifted in gentle amusement.

"You had babies."

She blinked again, her eyebrows furrowed, and then her lips parted.

"It hurt, didn't it?"

He nodded in confirmation. "If my hands are any testament to that, yes."

She bit her bottom lip and smiled as her mind started to clear.

"You were here the whole time."

"All the way through."

"No Flash business to attend to?" she teased, lowering her voice only slightly since they were alone in the room.

"Nope."

She raised her eyebrows dubiously.

"Kid Flash business," he shrugged innocently, and she laughed lightly.

"I see."

"He was fine," he assured her. "A couple robberies, nothing major."

Laughter bubbled out of her. "A _couple_ robberies? How long have we been in here?"

"Almost twenty-four hours," he said without looking away.

"And how do you know that?"

"Your dad texted me about five minutes ago and asked if he could see you."

"You said I was sleeping?"

He nodded.

"Are you going to tell him I'm up now?"

"If you want."

She shifted slightly on the hospital bed, wincing from the pain in her lower body.

"I think the meds are wearing off."

Barry's eyes widened. "Do you want me to get the nurse?"

He started to move away from her, but she clutched at him so he would stay. He looked so very concerned.

"Not yet."

Slowly, he sat back down.

"Tell me how I did," she requested.

He relaxed into the chair.

"You did amazing." He was all heart eyes staring down at her.

Iris felt the happiness buzzing inside of her, directed at this wonderful man that she married.

"Did I break your hand?"

"I heal fast," he said, and she chuckled. "You were so brave," he said sincerely. "After Don came out, Dawn started coming right—"

"Don?" she deadpanned. "And _Dawn_? Are you out of your mind, Barry Allen?"

His mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came out.

"I, well, I—"

"Can you just imagine if they're in the same classroom and the teacher makes no effort to emphasize certain vowels differently? They'll both think they're being called on every time!"

"They can be nicknames," he defended. "Maybe they'll decide they want something different."

Iris rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Oh, Bartholomew."

"I did think we both liked those names," he hedged carefully.

She sighed, lamenting that fact. "Separately, yes. But not together." Her eyes widened suddenly. "You didn't already put those names on the birth certificates, did you?"

His jaw dropped. "What kind of guy do you think I am? Before you even wake up? Before you hold your children in your arms?"

A warmth filled her insides, completely erasing any irritation she felt about her husband naming their children while she was asleep. She had held her babies in her arms for a few precious moments, but that had to have been hours ago. She suddenly ached to do it again, to feel those tiny little bodies squirming in her embrace, those dark, dark eyes looking up into hers, and the smallest of fingers wrapping around her thumb as they nestled into the side of her breast.

Her eyes misted and then lifted to Barry's. She knew he understood.

"I want to see them," she said, all choked up.

He nodded, stood back a bit and then helped her slowly sit up and climb out of bed.

"Everything okay?" he asked, not wanting to give her any discomfort.

"Yes," she said on a giant, relieved breath.

Sure of her now, he started to grin. "Let's go see our kids."

Iris nodded, and they began the slow trek across the room.

"Barry," she said suddenly as they were nearing the door.

He stopped immediately, half on alert if something was wrong.

"Yeah?"

Iris's smile was so big, her eyes filled with so much happiness, he knew there was no need to worry.

"Our kids."

She bit her bottom lip, giggling as that very fact floated in the air between them. Barry smiled too, the size of it matching her own with the knowledge that he was happier now he'd ever been in his life. He pulled her into a hug and tenderly kissed her forehead.

"They're so beautiful," he said. "You're going to love them."

She smiled in response and let him lead her out of the room into the hall where a wheelchair was waiting for them. Mere minutes later they arrived at the room containing all the newborns.

Barry put the brake on her wheelchair and helped her stand up so she could peer into the window.

"They're right—"

"I see them."

The name _West-Allen_ was printed on the front of each crib, but Iris knew it even before then. She felt it inside her, a mother searching for her babies.

She pressed her face to the glass, staring at them adoringly. Mostly because they looked more beautiful than she could have dreamed, but also because she knew her dear husband had to have been the one to tell the staff to put _her_ last name on the cribs too, so she could decide.

"What do you think?" he asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I think…I'm glad they got my genes."

She smiled slowly, sensing her husband's jaw drop in mock offense. But by the time she looked at him, he was smugger than she'd ever seen them.

"What?" she demanded.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth.

"One of them looks very much like me, at least in one regard."

Iris turned back to look at her children, seeking a little red or yellow spark of electricity, or maybe a vibration.

"You can't see it from here," he said, and she turned to look at him, confused.

"It's not…?"

His brows furrowed and then it dawned on him what she was thinking.

"Oh. _No_. I mean, I don't know…about _that_. They were just born a couple of hours ago, Iris. It'll probably take time to see if they're…if _that's_ what they got from me."

"Then…?" She let the question hang.

He licked his lips, then looked around for assistance.

"Here, just, wait here for a second."

Her brows furrowed as she watched him track down a nurse and talk quietly to her. The woman nodded and smiled, walked past Iris and then around the corner.

"What are you doing?" Iris asked, unable to stand the suspense a moment longer. When he said nothing and only smiled, she pushed further, "What were you talking about?"

He gestured to the wheelchair. "Sit."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Please."

Her eyes narrowed, but just as she was about to sit she saw something out of the corner of her eyes and gasped, because she _knew_.

"Are…Are those?" Her breath caught in her throat.

"Mhmm."

She sat down faster than she should have, but she ignored the slight pain that rippled through her body. Barry wheeled her back to her room, and there inside were two of the plastic cribs holding their children.

She gasped. "Closer," she urged Barry without looking away.

He obeyed the command, coming to a stop when the chair was as close as he could manage.

"Oh, my God…"

Barry glanced up at the nurse and smiled in thanks. The woman bobbed her head once, pointed to the hall where she – or another attendant – would be if they needed further assistance. He nodded curtly and then focused entirely back on Iris and their children.

Iris's chin was propped on the very edge of the crib, watching their babies wriggle in the soft cloth they'd been wrapped in.

"We did this?" she asked in awe.

"You did this," he clarified, then a beat later said, "Well, I helped."

Her smile spread. "I want to hold them."

"Am I allowed, too?" he teased.

Reluctantly, Iris turned away to look up at her husband, eyes sparkling.

"I guess."

Grinning, Barry carefully picked up the sleeping baby closest to Iris and laid it down gently in her arms until she was holding it securely.

"Which one is this?" she asked so quietly he almost didn't hear it.

"The girl," he supplied, not pushing for the name he'd given her.

"We got one of each." She nearly melted into a puddle when even in her sleep, her daughter wrapped her tiny fingers around her mother's pinkie.

Barry didn't tease. He was too busy focusing on picking up his other child from the small cradle he'd been placed in.

"We did," he said quietly, completely overwhelmed when his son curled into his chest, a quiet sigh easing out of him when he found a comfortable position.

They both stayed that way for a while, staring at their children, awestruck, more moved by them than they'd been about anything ever.

"So, which one has you in them?" she asked, only slightly teasing because she was still so dazed by the daughter she held in her hands. The choice between continuing to hold her and switching babies so she could hold her son was more difficult than she'd thought it would be.

"Hmm?" he asked absently, but then he remembered. "Oh, yours. The girl." His gaze lifted from his son over to Iris and his daughter. "But, uh, she's sleeping now, so we can wait until—"

And then their little baby girl opened her eyes, and Iris gasped.

"Oh my God, she's so…" Dimples appeared in the girl's cheeks as she smiled up at Iris and then turned to look at her father.

With tears in her eyes, Iris looked the same way.

"Green eyes," she said simply, and Barry nodded in response. "You did contribute."

Barry laughed in response, his eyes starting to well up himself.

"I'm just glad there's proof of it."

She waited a beat and then licked her lips. "I like Dawn," she said quietly. "Her eyes are brilliant just like it. Just like you."

Barry softened, lifted his son up slightly, and Iris nodded. _I want to hold him._

The switch was more difficult than anticipated, but it was successful. The boy's eyes opened wide when he was in his mother's arms as well, and his hand instantly latched onto her breast.

Barry laughed. "Boy knows what he wants."

Iris looked up at her husband, and he winked. She rolled her eyes and looked down at her son.

After a few moments of contemplation, she sighed wistfully.

"I like Don, too."

Barry's eyes flashed to hers. "Yeah?"

She looked back at him. "It suits him."

Barry took a chair beside her and propped his chin on her shoulder, looking down at his son whose dark-eyed gaze captured him almost as much as his daughter's.

"It should be short for something though," he said. "Just in case there's confusion."

"I don't want there to be teasing," Iris insisted.

"You mean like…Donald _Duck_?"

Iris glared at him, and he laughed.

"So not Donald, then."

She sighed. "We have to think of something. And before we leave the hospital too."

"Agreed."

"Dawn though…" She looked over at the baby girl in her husband's arms who was watching her like a hawk. "That's perfect."

Barry grinned, looked at both of his children and then stared, mesmerized, at his wife.

"I love you," he said, bringing her attention to him as she met his gaze.

"I love you, too," she said softly.

Barry started to lean in, gently kissing his wife and then lingering there.

"Thank you for our little family," she whispered against his skin.

He smiled, not wanting to leave this moment ever.

"Thank you, Iris West-Allen." He pulled back slightly to look into her adoring eyes. "For giving me the whole world."


End file.
